


Mistletoe Mistake

by Steangine



Category: Bleach
Genre: Christmas, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 09:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8974363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steangine/pseuds/Steangine
Summary: Christmas time. Lights. Colors. Biscuits. Family. Arrancar. Mistletoe. Ichigo just wants a normal life after all. [pre-relationship]





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted so bad to write this, but I'm afraid it didn't come out as I wanted. I hope you'll enjoy it :)

Christmas came with its lights, songs and colors.

Among all the houses of the neighborhood, which showed sober decorations on their facades (some flashing lights or a Santa climbing on a window), the Kurosaki clinic shone during the long nights and also during the bright days of Christmas.

When Masaki was alive, she loved Christmas. She loved the lights, the songs and all the colors, starting from the red of the hat she kept on for at least a month, ending to the white of the fake snow she put everywhere outside and inside the house. Even after her death, Isshin kept the tradition of turning his house into a faithful replica of one of the Santa Clause’s house depicted into the books for children.

From the 23rd of December to the 3rd of January, their house became the symbol of the western Christmas in Karakura and many people dropped by to take a photograph of the neon lights shaped into all the symbols of the festivity: reindeers, snowmen and such.

Ichigo could barely recognize his own house under the lights running on the corners of the walls and glimmering icicles hanging from green and red wreaths; all around him there were colorful spheres, Christmas toys each chanting a different song in loop, every piece of furniture had a plate on it with biscuits Yuzu made and managed -nobody knew how- to fill as soon as they were empty. Everything was too much, but that was a too much he was willing to handle, as he felt like his mother would have been happy and, of course, his family was happy.

He entered the living room, where the tall dazzling Christmas tree stood into its majestic flourish of decorations -ribbons, spheres, candles, holly- and already looked neat and done, but his father was still working on it. Ichigo couldn’t imagine what was missing in that triumph of _Christmasness_.

“Dad, where are Nel and Grimmjow?”

Somehow, some months after the defeat of Ywhach, both the Arrancar started visiting Urahara more often than Seiretei would have wanted – and this made both Rukia and Renji being in the human world more than Byakuya would have wanted them to. Ichigo didn’t know how they ended up staying with them for Christmas, inside their gigai custom-tailored, but he was sure that his father was involved somehow. Nel was so enthusiastic about Christmas that Ichigo didn’t manage to refuse her, while Grimmjow looked like he simply followed the tide. Even if the previous evening he caught him listening with interest while Yuzu was feeding him with both information about Christmas and biscuits.

“Nel-chan went to Urahara with Karin. They brought the biscuits to Dondochakka and Peshe. Grimmjow probably is somewhere around the house.”

_ Somewhere around the house _ was a too vague response and that alarmed Ichigo. He took a step towards the stairs, but his father turned to him with an overdramatic spin and he froze on his spot. Not because of the over-abused reaction he used every single time – Ichigo was used to the point it scared him the idea his brain labeled the behavior of his stupid father as normal. What bothered Ichigo was the particular outfit of the old man: a knitted pullover with seven reindeers walking into the sky and Rudolf’s nose was a shiny red led light, a pair of reindeer horns on his head and a red garland hanging around his neck. He was ridiculous but at the same time coordinated with the atmosphere.

“Ichigo! Where’s the magnificent pullover I knitted just for you?”

“There’s no way I’m wearing that thing! You try every year and every year it’s the same reply! Don’t!”

“You call _that thing_ the pullover I put so much effort in to make?!” He dashed to the giant picture of Masaki stuck on the wall, framed into white lights, and fell on his knees with a heart-breaking shriek. “Mother! Our son doesn’t appreciate our efforts! What should I do??!”

Ichigo ignored him and turned to the stairs.

“I’ll check if Yuzu needs help.”

And where Grimmjow was. Despite him having been on his side during the Quincy accident, he had never claimed back his desire of slicing his throat with his Zanpakuto, so having a wannabe killer wandering around his house wasn’t exactly a reassuring thought. Urahara assured that both Nel and Grimmjow wouldn’t have been able to get out from their gigai without the device he gave to Isshin, but Ichigo had trust issues when it came to Urahara. The first time he basically almost turned him into a Hollow without any single piece of advice.

“Yuzu? Oi Yuzu, where are you?”

Her chatting voice came from his room.

“I’m in your room, Ichi-nii!” She stopped to end the reprise of a Christmas song. “Grimmjow’s helping me with the decorations!”

Ichigo dashed to his room and stopped at the view of Grimmjow on the top of a small ladder busy to finish putting a garland around the doorstep of his bedroom.

There were so many things that hit his brain so hard, Ichigo didn’t know what was the strangest. Grimmjow helping his sister of his own will? Grimmjow doing a human thing? Grimmjow wearing the pullover his dad knit for him the previous year and of course he had refused to wear? The Santa red hat with the white pom-pom softly leaning on his left shoulder? Or Yuzu passing him her handmade biscuits which he devoured in one gulp as he kept working? Ichigo truly didn’t know, but he felt like the shadow of a headache pulsing into his warm temples and stroked his eyes.

“We’re almost done.” Her sister chanted showing all her happiness. The dress she was wearing made her look like a tiny cute elf and Ichigo wondered if Karin too wore something similar or she discarded it. Ichigo knew he had to reply something and went with a generic. “Nice.” He wasn’t sure of what he would have found inside his room.

Grimmjow jumped down from the ladder, ate the last biscuit completely ignoring Ichigo and spoke to Yuzu.

“Are we done?”

“Yes! I’m going to check out dad!”

“Don’t run into the corridor!”

Ichigo scolded her, but Yuzu rushed down the stairs fueled with the foresight of the upcoming Christmas party. He sighed and pushed aside the small ladder, spying inside his room. The windows were covered in stickers in the shapes of snowflakes, there was holly over the chandelier and a lot of tiny fake packages wrapped into shiny paper were scattered around. Ichigo noticed many spheres hanging from every possible spot and also the headboard had a garland wrapped around. It wasn’t so bad and Yuzu put effort in that, it was enough for Ichigo to bear all that Christmas into his room for the time being.

He turned down the light of his room and indulged under the doorstep. Ichigo felt like he wanted to thank Grimmjow because he immediately got along with Yuzu and she basically dragged him around, used him to decorate the house and he didn’t do anything bad to his whole family. Everything was a huge goal for him, considering his nature, his behavior and, last but not least, the fact that he still wanted Ichigo’s head impaled on his Zanpakuto.

“Thank you, Gri–“

Ichigo saw Grimmjow close to him. Too close. So close that he was able to notice how his eyebrows were neat and to feel his breath on his own mouth.

The words froze inside his throat, his eyes widened, his body stiffened and his mind went blank for the endless instant Grimmjow’s lips were on his. They were unexpectedly soft, Ichigo could smell the scent of Yuzu’s biscuits, and it was sweet. There was a feeble trace of sugar and crumbles on his lips, Ichigo tasted it as he licked them absentmindedly.

Grimmjow looked at him as if nothing happened.

“…what?”

“Human tradition, isn’t it?”

“What?”

Ichigo followed the direction of his right index pointing over their heads, where a twig of mistletoe was hanging looking like an innocent plant.

“T-that–“

“Striped-hat told me and Yuzu confirmed. Men on the lips, women on the forehead.” Grimmjow took off his hat and put it on Ichigo’s head. “What’s with that stupid face?”

“Not between men, you idiot!”

The snarled throwback surprised Grimmjow to the point he slightly bended his whole body back, but immediately regained the control over himself.

“Why not?”

Ichigo stared directly at him. He thought he would have found a disappointed face glaring back, but what he saw was a genuinely confused arched eyebrow and Grimmjow looked like he really wasn’t getting it.

“…why? Because not, that’s why!”

“Oh, such a nice explanation.”

Grimmjow snorted, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. The premise of a violent reaction was suffocated by that unusual steady attitude.

“W-what?”

“If I argue with you no more biscuits for me, said Yuzu. Just wait until the lights of Christmas are over, Kurosaki.”

Despite the words, that didn’t look like a real threaten, maybe because of the crumbles around his mouth, the pullover or just all the Christmas things that had been going around in those days.

While Grimmjow was walking downstairs, Ichigo clearly heard him muttering “The fuck is wrong with him?” Then he stopped halfway and turned to Ichigo; he creased his forehead as he looked up.

“I got it, it’s just a human thing and you’re pretending to be a real Shinigami when those idiots from Seireitei are here.”

“…eh?”

“Well, that crazy-eyebrows friend of yours freaked out too when I kissed him. He was just standing in the way under the mistletoe.”

“EH???!”

From the living-room Yuzu’s voice chanted following the medley of the song she was singing with their father.

“Ichi-nii! No quarrels on Chriii–stmas! You promised!”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm excited when it comes to the pair Grimmjow + human traditions. I have this headcanon he is interested in them but can't possibly understand them, so he just does what he likes the most (so, yeah, he likes kissing handsome shinigami and eating biscuits). Headcanon: Grimmjow and Yuzu would get along.  
> I hope you're spending a nice time out there :)


End file.
